License to Love (20 page)

No, she couldn’t live like that. She knew she couldn’t hide
from Alicia and the other people she no doubt knew here, but she liked spending
time
alone with
Trent too.

She sighed. “I’ll have to see them at some point, and I did
come here to remember things, didn’t I?”

Trent
watched his Molly as
he led them through the forest, still blown away that she was back
ali
ve and healthy... and happy for the moment
. Yet, so
many questions and doubts stood between
them. Why did she disappear? And why did she come back now? He wanted the
truth, and he wanted Molly to get her memory back. If she remembered their time
together from childhood, maybe all those moments would mean something. Right
now they were just pictures in his head.

He watched her sway with the horse and throw him a smile.
Yeah, she was having fun, and they were making a new picture, a memory that
both of them knew about. Still, the unknowns haunted him, even in the quiet,
misty woods.

He wanted everyone in the town to believe in him again, and
Molly could do that for him if she knew what happened. A few people were still
suspicious and blamed Trent for the Andersons’ disappearance. Things that big
don’t happen in small towns and people needed someone to blame.

She glanced his way and smiled. “I’m so glad we came out
here.” She spoke softly, her eyes glowing with pleasure.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “It’s real nice riding with you again.”
It felt right. It almost felt like they hadn’t lost the last four years. For a
minute, he tried to pretend they hadn’t. But maybe he wouldn’t appreciate this
so much then. As things stood, he had her back, in a way. A big way, but he
needed to get to the bottom of this too.

He’d spent the last four years searching for her and praying
that one day she’d come back to him and clear up all the doubt. How could she
without her memory? She had walked right by him without recognizing him. Talk
about a heart breaking moment. Then, he heard her story and swore he’d find a
way to bring her
memory 
back. Or more
importantly, bring her back to all of them.

Mark Stone questioned Molly’s story and raised doubts at the
precinct. That was his job, plus he was acting in Trent’s best interests by
playing the devil’s advocate, but Trent still felt stabbed in the back. They’d
traded a few angry words over the subject, so it was probably for the best that
he was off the case, and work, for a while. Besides his two weeks of vacation
time, he could also take personal time. His boss made that clear, if he needed
it to deal with all this.

Trent felt
relieved to keep
away from Mark for another reason: Mark had asked what Molly had said when
Trent told her about their relationship
. Thing was,
he hadn’t. He co
uldn’t tell her about them now that he knew about the
car accident that took her parents’ lives. If he revealed some of their
relationship, she might realize he was a suspect in her parents’ case, just as
she was. Her reappearance caused some of the old suspicions about him to come
back to life. She needed a friend to trust right now, and the truth would scare
her.

“Look!” She whispered loudly, pointing at a spooked deer as
it jaunted off.

“I’m surprised that’s the first one we’ve seen today.”

He could tell she enjoyed the quietness as they rode the
horses slowly through th
e forest. Pretending to get
lost in the beauty around them, Trent thought back to when he and Molly were together.
About a month before Molly disappeared, he’d proposed and she’d been waltzing
around with a modest diamond on her ring finger. There weren’t many people in
Ridge City who had a diamond on their wedding band, which made Molly even more
p
roud.

This new Molly wasn’t anything like the wild one he knew
then. He couldn’t forget how she looked as she sashayed down the sidewalk, her
hips swinging slowly under her nice pants. She looked polished, like a city
girl. She seemed to have more money now than before. Maybe her parents had life
insurance.

Today she looked more like the old Molly, in blue jeans for
riding and her hair damp from the misty air.  Whether in jeans or slacks, she
always looked good. She smiled when she caught him looking her way, but they
still didn’t speak.
They were on the back end of
the path heading toward the stables, and he sadly realized the ride hadn’t
triggered any memories for her. Unless she just hadn’t told him.

She turned her light brown eyes on him. His body jumped,
remembering her red lips on his, and how he tangled his fingers in that thick,
dark h
air.
I can’t take this!
He almost moaned and had to clear his throat to
cover it. Next, he had to force his hands to loosen their grip on his reins. He
shifted in the saddle, restless and tense with want for her. She sat so close
but so far away at the same time.

Her eyes looked troubled when she glanced over several times
in a row. She must have felt his mood. He couldn’t fake a smile so they
remained silent as they emerged from the woods and turned onto the pasture
path, heading back.

At the stables, he got the brushes and they cared for the
horses together.

“This seems natural, too,” she told him, then added, “But I
don’t think…”

“That you’re really remembering anything yet?”

She made an angry sound then.

“Mol, don’t rush it.”

A sigh. “There’s so much to be frustrated about.”

He knew it, but that didn’t change it. Not sure what to say,
he led his horse to the gate and opened it for both horses to return to the
field. They walked back to the truck and he reached an arm around her, hoping
that would ease her tension. 

She looked down and he wanted to pull her into his arms,
love away her sadness. When they reached her door, he held onto her a minute
longer.

“Thank you for today.” Her eyes looked a bit shiny as she
looked up into his.

“Hey, there’s plenty more for us.” He caught himself at the
very last second before he leaned down to kiss her. Shaken that he slipped like
that, he stepped away from her and opened the truck door.

When he reached the main road, an older song came on that
they used to sing together. Molly started humming and looked happier.

“We can come back and ride any time,” he said, deciding he
needed to enjoy their time together instead of brooding over what they’d lost.
He’d headed back to her hotel since they hadn’t discussed any plans. What was
the protocol for this? Act like they had just met, or whisk her away to his
house, like he would have done four years ago?

He settled on, “How about dinner?”

“Dinner sounds great.”

Grinning, he turned around and headed for a little diner by
the bridge. “Does Sally’s sound good? Good country food.” He wanted to add how
they used to eat there all the time, but he’d already decided to enjoy the
evening and not push things.

“Sure.”

Sally, the owner, wasn’t there that night like she was
sometimes, and he suddenly knew that was a good thing. She’d known Molly pretty
well. Their waitress tonight had been hired about two years before, so she knew
Trent but didn’t ask Molly any questions. People had to be talking though.

Thankfully the two people who stopped simply said hi and
welcomed Molly back. A group of college kids came in and were laughing pretty
loud, so they had something to eavesdrop on and laugh about.

He had always loved her smile and how much her entire face
lit up. She looked at him now, laughing softly. Then tears came to her eyes.

“I would have never guessed I’d find you here.”

Her serious words sent his heart spinning. “You remember
now?”

Her smile fell, sending his hopes right after it. “No, I
just meant I didn’t think I’d find anyone who would help me so much. I felt
pretty alone, but you’re here.”

He smiled warmly at her then but caught sight of a tall
brunette walking through the diner behind Molly. He stiffened, realized he was
holding his breath and forced himself to let it out. Molly looked worried and
turned to glance behind her.

It wasn’t Bev, thankfully, because she would throw a hissy
fit right there if she saw them together. Molly watched him nervously now.

“Sorry, I thought that was someone else.” To explain, he
added, “I didn’t want you to face that yet.”

He felt grateful she didn’t press for a further explanation.
A few years ago she would have, but this was completely different. Like they were
two different people, or maybe the same people starting over.

She’d been studying him and said suddenly, “This does feel
familiar.” He could see her searching and reaching for a history to match this
feeling between them. “Maybe,” she added at last with a sigh.

“But what were you thinking?”

“Well, I don’t feel out of place here at all. Maybe there’s
something there. But then why did I forget about it? Why was I in California?
Now I’m not sure my parents told me the truth.”

It seemed all her questions came crashing down on any hope
of recovering her memory. He touched her hand on the table, wanting to reassure
her but didn’t know what to say.

After dinner, Trent had the same urge to stretch the evening
out, but it was getting late and, in reality, she didn’t know him that well any
more. He pulled up to the main door of her hotel and let the truck idle. Mol
reached for his hand first, just a light touch to say goodbye.

“Goodnight, and thanks for today and dinner.”

“Anytime, and I mean it.” He smiled, knowing she had to be
thinking about kissing him. Right? Or maybe wishing he’d kiss her. Crazy.

She opened her door and slid out of his truck. He answered
her wave with his own and left in the misty evening rain that started up. That
was it, for today anyway.

As he drove to his parents’ house, Trent unsuccessfully
tried to stop the summer four years ago from running through his mind. He
fought this same war every day, trying to not think about Molly.

“But she’s here.” Styled, cultured, but still his Molly. His
mind played games with him and envisioned her in a short pair of cut-off blue
jeans, her long black hair flying around her as the sun shone on it. She loved
anything active that kept her going. Her dark brown eyes held a mischievous
gleam, but the small freckles dotting her nose gave her a little-girl look. He
was really whipping on himself today, replaying the afternoon he’d proposed to
her.

They were hiking up the hill for a picnic, and Molly was
running ahead of him. She made it to the apple tree they always sat under, the
one he carved their names into, and plopped down to wait for him, her arms
resting on her knees.

“Slow poke!” she called with a giggle. “You can’t be a cop
if you can’t chase down the bad guys.”

“Are you one of those bad guys?” he asked upon reaching
her. He spread out a blanket and set down their bag.

“Hungry already?” she asked, her
voice teasing that maybe she wanted something else.

“Well ... hey, what’s this?” He
pulled out a shoe box and handed it to her. It hadn’t been easy packing their
lunch around that box, but he wanted to surprise her. A little box would have
ruined it.

She threw him a glance, a half
smile, and lifted the lid. Trent remembered how her face came up, those big
brown eyes filling with tears. When he asked, she just nodded, and he slid the
ring slowly onto her finger. A perfect fit, just like the two of them. She
grabbed him in a fierce hug, kissed his cheek, his mouth... After a long kiss,
Molly jumped to her feet, ran to the edge of the hill, and shouted down to
Ridge City, “I’m getting married!”

He was sure the entire town heard
her.

His daydream ended when he pulled
up to his parents’ house and saw Beverly Marshall standing on the porch, arms
folded, dark eyes set for a fight. It hadn’t been her at the diner, but it was
her for sure now.
Damn it.
He didn’t like how she spent time with his
parents, but so far he wasn’t able to shake her. She was distant family in a
way, in his parents’ line of thinking. His sister Alicia had married David,
Bev’s cousin, and that made it okay for her to hang around.

The porch light right above her
cast shadows on her face in the dark, and he imagined a scowl on her face.

“What’s got you going this time?” He swung out of the truck,
hoping he could soften her mood before telling her the good news.

“Molly Anderson, that’s what. Was it her?” Bev, he had to
admit, was pretty, but when mad, she looked like a classic TV villain with her
dark eyebrows, which were usually pulled together in a glare. She tended to
overuse the pouting beauty look too.

He was taken aback that she knew so soon. “How?”

“Just got a call, Terry Hill swears he saw you walking with
her on Main Street yesterday.” The door opened behind Bev.

Brenda, his mother, stepped out with an anxious face. Mom
usually had a pleasant face, but Trent saw the question in her eyes as she
asked, “How did today go?”

“Is it really her?” Bev questioned again.

“Yes, it is her. She’s back. Let me come in and explain.” He
followed them inside and saw his dad. Of course he had called his parents about
Molly’s reappearance, but he’d been so excited he probably didn’t explain
everything well. Since Bev didn’t know any of it, he repeated the appropriate
parts of Molly’s story while Bev kept her eyes narrowed and lips twisted.

“You’ll check into her story, right?” she asked when he’d
finished.

Trent shook his head in disbelief, but upon glancing at his
mother’s expression, said, “Already am. The case needs to be closed, you know.”

Bev sighed, sat back, and continued to glare at him. “We all
know what she did to you by leaving, and now you’re welcoming her back, no
questions asked. She could hurt you all over again.”